When I first started teaching mathematics, the elephant in the room was always the mantra, ‘when am I ever going to use this in life?’ Now that we’ve been exploring the language of mathematics together for years, I don’t hear this question very much at all. However, the worldview or hidden assumption behind this question is still strong and active. I still encounter students who struggle to grasp the big picture and parents who skew their education toward existentialism. Students are afraid to ask this question because they know that it doesn’t go deep enough, but they don’t know why. Why isn’t this question sufficient? In our frustrations with doing hard things we tend to gravitate toward these surface questions. That is okay. It is okay to ask a question that you know isn’t the be all and end all. It’s a question. While in my logical mindset I know that you aren’t asking the right question, I’d rather you ask a question than not. Ask the question, explore the answer, and the next time you’re frustrated maybe your mind will go beyond that question and into something deeper.
Let’s dive into the world of imagination and explore this question further. First, what is the hidden assumption behind this question?
“When am I ever going to use this in life?”
- Things worth learning are how I build a life
- A well built life is full of skills that I need to have
- Things worth learning are only the skills that I need to have
This pseudo syllogism easily popped into my head, and I tried to make it as valid as possible. But I failed. However, in my attempt I could see how the two assumptions do not support the conclusion. The conclusion is the hidden assumption behind this question, and it has no grounds in truth. If I’m focused on justifying what I’m learning by the necessity of my need to use it, then I’ll naturally seek to learn the things that I need in order to do the things that I want. I will learn to brush my teeth because I want clean teeth. I learn to write a sentence because I want to write a sentence. I learn to speak French because I want to go to Paris someday. This reasoning obviously encourages us to dip our toes into the sea of knowledge. Why would anyone need to learn more? We can see in this scenario that the conclusion leads us to a shallow life, which is not our goal.
Which leaves me with the question, what is our goal with learning?